


Series

by romanticalgirl



Category: British Actor RPF, Hornblower RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-01
Updated: 2013-01-01
Packaged: 2017-12-05 00:07:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/716611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/romanticalgirl/pseuds/romanticalgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Why's he in LA?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Series

**Author's Note:**

> So, Matthew's got himself a TV show this year.
> 
> Originally posted 9-6-06

“Hey.”

“Oh. Um. Hey.”

“What are you doing? You sound all out of breath.” Jamie laughs softly, ignoring the voice in his head that’s dissecting Ioan’s greeting and finding it falls short of what Jamie expected. “You’re not thinking about me, are you?”

“No. Um. I mean…” Ioan sighs and does something to the phone so that Jamie can only hear him distantly, apparently talking to someone else in the room. A few minutes later he comes back on the line and his voice is different, that low teasing edge that plays along Jamie’s nerve endings. “Sorry about that.”

“No problem.” It’s easy to forget that Ioan’s a good actor when all he makes is crap superhero movies, but Jamie’s seen enough of the stuff that’s _not_ crap to know exactly how good Ioan is. “What are you up to?”

“Just helping a friend.” Ioan’s only evasive when he knows the answer’s likely to piss Jamie off, which doesn’t bode well for the conversation. He should just hang up and forget about why he called. But he can’t and, to be honest, he doesn’t want to.

“I’ve got the rest of the week off. Don’t have to be back to work until Monday morning. I thought I might fly down.”

“Oh. Um.”

_But not that good an actor_

“Well, I guess not then.”

“No. Jamie. It’s not…I’d love for you to come down, to see you. I just…I’m going to be busy this week. There’s some stuff and…”

“Right. You’ve got some stuff and…” Jamie laughs though there’s really no humor in it. “Don’t worry. I’ll leave you alone so you can do your _stuff_ and whatever else it is.”

“Jesus.” Ioan snaps the word, the bite of annoyance in it. “I’m terribly sorry I can’t just set my life to revolving around whenever you think you might be able to get some time off and that I can’t just drop everything at a moment’s notice. Appearances to the contrary sometimes, I _do_ have a career of my own.”

Jamie’s silent for a long time, and the only sound he can hear is the blood pounding in his ears. “Right. Of course, you’re right. I’m sorry to have bothered you.”

“Jamie.” It’s a plea this time, and Jamie almost hangs up in spite of it. Something in his chest _aches_ , and he needs to go. He needs to hang up before it gets worse. “Jamie.”

“Just call me later if you’ve the time.” Jamie forces himself to smile so his voice doesn’t sound quite so broken. “I’ll be home the r-rest of the week.”

“Jamie, wait.” Ioan curses in Welsh and it’s the one he doesn’t use very often, which probably means Jamie doesn’t want to hear what he has to say.

“I have to go, Ioan. G’bye.”

**

There are three messages when he gets to his flat, but he doesn’t listen to any of them. Ioan only refuses to tell Jamie things when he’s actually _got_ something to hide. Jamie’s imagination is more than happy to suggest a few things, which Jamie could live without, so he damns his trainer and damns Ron Moore and fishes a six pack out of the back of the refrigerator.

He’s halfway through the third one when he finally pushes play on the machine, and Ioan’s voice hits him like a hammer, low and rolling in his stomach to his groin.

“God damn it, Bamber. Answer your phone. Stupid _fucking_ wanker. You _hung up_ on me. God d…Call me back.”

He plays it twice then erases it. Ioan’s accent is always harder, more pronounced when he’s angry, and Jamie closes his eyes and lets it wash over him. The second one is a half hour later, and he’s calmer, or drunker, Jamie can’t tell quite which.

“You’ve not called, so either your pissed off at me, which is likely; you’re hurt, which is also likely; or you’ve finally given in and tossed me over for someone else.” His laugh is sad and Jamie can almost picture him running his hand through his hair, mussing the perfect curls. “Please call me, Jamie. Please?”

He closes his eyes and starts the fourth beer, listening to Ioan ask him nicely. His breath sticks in his chest and he tries to wash it down with a long drink.

“Jamie?” His voice is different still, sadder. “I…please call me. I’ll explain. I just…I’m home and…it’s complicated.”

The last word nearly forces a sob. Complicated means a lot of things, not a single fucking one of them good. He finishes the beer and glances at the other two them pushes the box away. He’ll likely need them after.

Ioan’s voice is anxious, the phone answered before the first ring’s barely started. “Hello?”

“Hey.” He tries for neutral. The seductive promise of the afternoon’s gone arse over tits, so there’s no point in bothering. Besides, Jamie doesn’t think _complicated_ welcomes seduction.

“Oh.” Ioan’s breath catches and he lets out a soft sigh. “You called.”

“You asked me to.”

“You’re…you’re home?”

“Why’s it complicated, Ioan?” The beer is warm in his stomach and in his blood, and his head is pleasantly fuzzy. He probably should have eaten something at some point today. “I mean, beyond the fact that we’re both men, we’re shagging, we live in different countries, we see each other once a month if we’re lucky and we’re both in the public eye? None of that ever made it _complicated_.”

“Matthew’s moved to LA.” There’s a long silence and Jamie forgets to breathe through it all. “I was…I was helping him move in when you called. He’s got a small flat not that far from here, and he just got some furniture and some of his stuff from home and…” he stops. “And…”

“So you’ll be seeing a lot of each other. Best mates, back together again.”

“Jamie…”

“So we’re done then? Matthew’s back in your life, so we’re either done or we’re back to sneaking around like we’re furtive teenagers? There’s someone now who cares why you’re jetting off to Vancouver for the weekend? There’s someone now who’ll want to go out and pick up women and party all the time?”

“No.”

“No? What then, Ioan?”

“He’s got his own life.”

“Yeah? He’s not invited you ‘round or asked you to go out on the town at all since he’s been in?” Jamie reaches over for the fifth beer and opens it harder than necessary, the sharp ridges of the cap cutting into his palm. He waits, giving Ioan time to deny it. “So, we’re done then?”

“I’ll tell him. About us. It’s not as if Matthew doesn’t know I’ve shagged a bloke or three in my ti…” He cuts himself off and curses under his breath. “Jamie…”

“Why’s he in LA?”

“He got a show. Soap opera drama thing.” Ioan says it all dismissively, though Jamie knows Ioan wants to work more, has thought about TV, would give in if his dreams to make it in the movies didn’t keep offering him a chance of coming true. “This isn’t the end of us. I’ll tell him. Please, Jamie. Don’t do this.”

“I should go.”

“No. NO. Damn it…” Ioan sighs. “Please. Look, he’s having a house warming party this weekend. Fly down. I’ll tell him and you can come with me and we’ll christen his flat for him. Or, hell, we’ll christen mine again. I just…please, Jamie. I don’t want this to end. I like this. I _love_ this. I love us. I love you.”

There’s a long, drawn out silence and Jamie can almost see it behind his eyes when he closes them, can almost see Ioan.

“I love you, Jamie.”

Jamie nods though Ioan can’t see him. “When’s the party?”

“Saturday night.”

“If you told him tonight, I could still come down for the rest of the week, no?” He runs his finger along his jeans, scratching at a spot. “If you want me.”

“I will. I’ll tell him tonight.” Ioan’s voice is soft and relieved, tinged with something low and sad. “I’ll call you in the morning?”

Jamie smiles and nods, though he knows Ioan can’t see either. “I love you too.”

The sadness is gone, replaced with a lilt of hope. “Yeah?”

“I must, you wanker. Why else would I put up with you?”

Jamie can hear Ioan’s smile and closes his eyes. He can’t wait to see it, to put it there. “I’m good in bed.”

“That one you’ll just have to prove.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Jamie nods. “Yeah. You better.”  



End file.
